The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a native plant of the middle east, most likely Iran, northeastern Turkey and the region of the south Caspian sea. Based on the variety of the forms and genotypes available in different parts of the world, the pomegranate was probably independently domesticated in various places, beginning about 3500 BC.
The pomegranate has a brightly colored, globular leathery-skinned fruit containing hundreds of arils, tiny seeds surrounded by a little teardrop of sweet red purple pulp.
Domestication of Pomegranates
The main difference between wild and domesticated forms are that the domesticated fruit is larger. In the wild, pomegranate fruits range between 5-8 cm diameter, while cultivated fruits range between 6-12 cm. The plants are self-pollinating but can be grown from seed; and the most reliable evidence for domestication is its occurrence outside of its native region.
The earliest suggestion for pomegranate use is from a 4th millennium BC vase from an elite residence in Uruk. At Susa, tokens in the distinctive shape of a pomegranate fruit were discovered in a residence dated to about 3300 BC.
Pomegranate Spread
The earliest occurrence and representation outside of their native range are in a Hyksos tomb in Tell el Dab'a Egypt (~1780-1550 BC). A Hyksos tomb dated to 1600 BC in Jericho contained a pomegranate-shaped box and six entire fruits. Pomegranate-shaped vases have been found at Phaistos and Knossos on Crete by the Middle Minoan period (ca 18th century BC); and in the Levant by the 14th century BC. Pomegranates were spread into China along the Silk Road by about 2000 years ago.
In a recent article, Cheryl Ward compared the locations and context of pomegranate representations and archaebotanical evidence and concluded that the fruit initially spread outside of Persia as a luxury item during the Late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean. Among her evidence are the thousands of seeds recovered from the Uluburun shipwreck off the coast of Turkey about 1400 BC.
Sources
This glossary entry is part of the About.com Guide to Plant Domestications and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Ercisli, Sezai, et al. 2007 Interspecific variability of RAPD and fatty acid composition of some pomegranate cultivars (Punica granatum L.) growing in Southern Anatolia Region in Turkey. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 35(11):764-769.
Ward, Cheryl 2003 Pomegranates in Eastern Mediterranean Contexts during the Late Bronze Age. World Archaeology 34(3):529-541.
Yuan, Zhaohe, et al. 2007 Population Genetic Diversity in Chinese Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Cultivars Revealed by Fluorescent-AFLP Markers. Journal of Genetics and Genomics 34(12):1061-1071.
